Trauma services
Central Highlands Family Violence-Creative and Therapeutic Services
Western region
The Central Highlands Family Violence - Creative and Therapeutic Services (FV-CaTS) supports babies, children and adolescents, and their caregivers to recover from family violence.
FV-CaTS partnership
FV-CaTS is a collaborative partnership between:
- Berry Street’s Restoring Childhood program (part of our Take Two service)
- WRISC Family Violence Support
- Ballarat Community Health.
Eligibility
The FV-CaTS program is available to babies, children, adolescents, women and families that have or are experiencing family violence.
This free service is for victim survivors living in the local government areas of:
- Ararat
- Ballarat
- Golden Plains
- Hepburn
- Moorabool
- The Pyrenees.
Services available
Phone consultations to parents or caregivers of children who have experienced family violence to help them:
- respond to their children in the present
- consider the ongoing therapeutic support options for them and their children.
Preliminary sessions with babies, children and young people and their caregiver to help them communicate and adapt during times of change and assess future therapeutic needs.
- Individual sessions for babies, children and young people with their caregiver.
- Individual sessions for people aged 15 years and over.
A women’s counselling program is also available, with a focus on diversity and the LGBTIQ+ community who have experienced family violence.
The FV-CaTS partnership includes WRISC’s Van Go Children’s Creative Therapies Program, which is an innovative model of child-centred creative therapeutic services. It includes group therapy for infants, children and adolescents who have experienced family violence.
Restoring Childhood also runs a Peek-A-Boo Club, a facilitated group program for infants and caregivers who have been exposed to family violence. The group helps caregivers respond to their infant’s developmental and attachment needs. It recognises that infants have their own experience of family violence. To learn more about the Peek-A-Boo Club, go to Research Gate: The Peek-A-Boo Club: Group Work for Infants and Mothers Affected by Family Violence.
How to access services
A range of services and programs can refer to FV-CaTS, including:
- Child Protection
- Child FIRST
- The Orange Door
- other family violence programs
- other family services.
Professionals and families (self-referrals) can refer to FV-CaTS by contacting:
Email: FV-CaTs@wrisc.org.au
Phone: 03 5333 3666
An intake worker will set up a time to do a pre-referral consult to talk more about the referral.
The Wattle Project – supporting adolescents using violence at home
